Salt of the River, Salt of the Earth. Politics, Science and Ecological Diplomacy in the Mexicali Valley (1961-1965)

Resumen

Abstract

This article examines the salinity crisis in Mexicali Valley. National and state officials from both countries saw Mexicali Valley as a ground where their theories on the causation of the crisis would be vindicated by scientific testing of water and land conditions there. Those that viewed Mexicali Valley as an international political landscape did not live there, but recognized the importance of the region in resolving the crisis. Those who lived in Mexicali Valley viewed their home as a local political landscape. For them the salinity crisis was not an abstract issue that could be reduced to statistics or policy positions, but instead represented a profound ecological transformation that affected the taste of drinking water, the fertility of land, and the bounty of the harvest The concerns of local political organizers, such as Alfonzo Garzón, founder of the State Agrarian league of Baja California (LAE), often worked at cross-purposes to those of national officials. In fact, one of the turning points in the salinity crisis occurred around 1964, when the diplomacy-driven perspective subsumed the agenda of many local officials in Mexicali Valley.

Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, "The Salt Water Problem of the Mexicali and San Luis Valleys", in Letter from Julián Rodriguez Adame to Mann, February 12, 1962, NACP, RG 59, DF, 1960-63,611.12322.

A draft of the study is included in "Joint Report of United States and Mexican Expert Panels on Colorado River Salinity Problems", May 8, 1962, NACP, RG 59, DF, 1960-1963, 611.12322/5-2862; /Also see Letter from Martin to Rusk, "Letter to Foreign Minister Tello of Mexico on Salinity Problem", June 8, 1962, NACP, RG 59, DF, 1960-63, 611.12322/6-862.

"Comments of Department of Health, Education, and Welfare on Report of United States Advisory Panel International Boundary and Water Commission," in Letter from Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to Rusk, October 30,1962, NACP, RG 59, DF, 1960-63, 611.12322/10-2462.

Letter from Blackledge to Robert Allen, February 7,1964, enclosed with telegram from Allen to USDS, "Evidence of Effects Suffered Due to Increase in Salinity Colorado River Waters Delivered to Mexico", February 13, 1964, NACP, RG 59, POL 33-1, MEX-US, Folder 1-1-64.

Telegram from Mann to Rusk, March 14,1963, NACP, RG 59, POL 33-1, MEX-US, 1963; Emilio López Zamora's , "La contaminación de las aguas del río Colorado: un conflicto internacional", Política, March 1, 1963, 3-13, is included with the telegram. A compilation of Lopez's writings, including several articles on water issues and development in the delta can be found in El agua, la tierra: los hombres de México (México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1977).

The Mexican Chief of Immigration in Mexicali, for example, reported to the American Consulate that "the protest demonstrations... where interfering with the current political contest [in reference to the presidential election]". See Telegram from Boyd to USDS, May 15, 1964, "Salinity of Colorado River Waters - Demonstrations Against", May 15, 1964, NACP, RG 59, POL 33-1, MEX-US, Folder 5-1-64. An example of Mexican officials using radical protest (something they generally detested) to their advantage can be seen in an exchange between Mexican Senator Vildosola and Ambassador Freeman. Vildosola warned Freeman of an upcoming "mammoth" demonstration on July 12,1964, and suggested that the United States find a resolution to the problem before then. As Freeman explained the complications of finding a resolution because of domestic concerns with the Colorado River Basin states in the United States, Vildosola warned that he might not be able to guarantee that these demonstrations would be peaceful like those in the past. "He expressed his full understanding of the dangers of communists and other extremists in seeking to turn the demonstrations to their own ends", Freeman noted, "but he in no way accepted the inference of the desirability of postponing the scheduled nation-wide demonstrations on July 12". Telegram from Freeman to Rusk, June 19, 1964, NACP, RG 59, POL 33-1, MEX-US, Folder 6-6-64.